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UK Boardsports Market Insight April 2021

Late March 2021 and The Fat Lady sung her song loud and clear – the winter is over. In truth it never started for us in the UK and the business has been decimated. The UK retailers and distributors bore the brunt of it and the chicken is now coming home to roost with the brands – who can only dream for pre-orders for the coming season. There will be massive declines. By Gordon Way

Once again, I would reiterate that retailers, distributors and brands have all (mostly) worked together – the “all in it together” understanding was clear for just about everyone. Well.. mostly.. there is one snowboard brand who seemed to forget this and they went ahead and threatened retailers left, right and centre for payment – I wonder how their order book is looking? Just about everyone else seemed to understand the situation.

Current lockdown will ease on March 29 (history by the time you read this) with individual outdoor sports back on the table. On April 12 we can return to the pub (outside only) with the next significant change being mid-May. Then the COVID road map takes us to the longest day of the year (21/06) when it should (should?) all be ‘back to normal’ – whatever that means. I don’t know about longest day of the year but this has certainly been a long year. And pretty tough.

In my last missive I mentioned The Board Basement going to the wall and mused that it would be a “big ask” for someone to rescue the retailer. Well someone did. Honestly I was surprised but also extremely pleased – it’s great to see someone having the confidence to invest in the winter sports market at this time. That someone is Jonathan Capener from ‘Outdoor and Country’ – new owners of ‘The Board Basement’. Outdoor and Country have a great online presence and 9 physical stores with their head office in Staffordshire and the stores range from Knutsford in Cheshire to Street in Somerset. The current offering is very much active country fashion and not boardsports.

Of course my first question was why and what’s in store for The Board Basement? “We have been looking for a winter sports and action sports opportunity for some time to complement our organic growth. This was a very timely opportunity. Our intention is to begin with the core of all things boarding – SUP, skate, wake and snow – but we will also look to evolve the product and brand offering over time together with an extended range of lifestyle apparel.”

“Initially The Board Basement will be online only but in time we will be considering the instore potential for a shop-in-shop concept in the larger stores”. Unfortunately the purchase came too late for the Board Basement staff. “Sadly the purchase was made from the liquidators after the staff had been made redundant”. Jonathan is upbeat about the future for The Board Basement. “We are very much looking forward to the opportunity to grow the wider business into the action sports market and we look forward to meeting new faces and creating new opportunities.” Entering a new market at a time when, to be frank, COVID has put the winter sports market on its backside in the UK could be regarded by some as a brave move.

But who knows? If you look at some of the government data this may be the perfect time to enter the market. Whilst COVID is apparently going to cost the equivalent of £14k per household in the UK growth for 2022 is forecast to be the fastest since 1948 at 7.3%. That’s the highest for 74 years! The Office for Budget Responsibility (an independent forecasting body) use terms like “surge ahead” when referring to the future. I have little doubt that, if we are allowed to travel and feel safe to travel, then the winter sports market will bounce back with a vengeance. The trouble is we just don’t know and this is clearly reflected in the winter sports retailer pre-order books which are low. This is the polar opposite to water sports where stocks are going to be in short supply, pre-orders are high and will have to be even higher for the next season if we are to get it right.

I picked up the ‘Fat Lady Song’ with Matt from Absolute Snow: “We’re a winter sports retailer – there’s a clue in the name! I cannot find the words to describe how our winter has been. We’ve sold a bit but that’s it. It’s really not a pretty scene. Our buy-in for this winter is based on a very conservative forecast and our aim is to get through it, clear the shelves and be ready for the follow-on season. We’re not anticipating a rapid return to the mountains. We don’t believe the ‘every day’ enthusiast will have the confidence to travel. So our aim is to consolidate, reduce the extraordinarily high stock levels and get ourselves in a good place for 22/23 season.”

What about the large carryover stocks? “Most of it is still going to be new to the consumers so we’re going to hold our price wherever we can. Much will depend on our competitors of course.”

And what of the summer season? “We will achieve great growth in that area but it’s from a relatively small base so it’s pretty easy to grow. Nevertheless, outdoor is getting more and more important to us. Outdoor is really ‘on trend’ and the COVID-bounce will have a really positive impact on this sector.

So, Matt thinks it will not be until winter 22/23 before things get back to normal. I hope he is wrong.

Checking in with Henry from Shore Watersports, one of the longest established water sports stores in the UK, he was upbeat and as positive as anyone can be. “This is the heyday of all heydays. The problem is not selling the stock it’s getting it so that we can sell it and it’s managing customer expectations.”

Sounds good to me. “It is good but also very frustrating – for example one of our key wetsuit suppliers has not managed to get any wetsuits to us this season. This has resulted in old supplier relationships being re-opened up – to be honest a good supplier is one that can offer us supply. That’s where it sits”

And all this in March? “Yeah – it’s mad. We’re building and extension and we’re staffing up to help us cope with the demand. It really is going to be mad!” Any concerns? “Yes – long term inflation – we can already see pricing increasing 10% and even 20% – we have to be careful not to be price our sports too high.”

In summary – winter crap, summer good, vaccination programme good, optimism high – let’s just get COVID behind us. The signing Fat Lady can take the roosting chicken for Sunday Lunch and choke on it!